You have created a Facebook fan page for your business. Congratulations! You have stepped into the wonderful world of social media marketing for your business. However, like your own website, you would like to know just how many people are visiting your Facebook fan page and acquire additional demographic information.

Facebook does have limited visitor information you can browse through their Facebook Insights feature. However, the information is restricted to fan interaction and does not provide data about visitors.

What you need is a tool like Google Analytics that can provide you with specific and detailed demographic information about your Facebook fan page visitors. Alas, Facebook does not allow JavaScript to be added to their member pages, making Google Analytics seem out of the question.

However, by taking a few additional steps and using the free and open source Facebook Google Analytics Tracker (FBGAT), you can easily apply the Google tracking program to your Facebook fan page. Here’s how:

1. Open Your Google Analytics Account

First, you need a Google Analytics account. If you already have an account, you simply need to create a new website profile on your account for your Facebook page. If you do not have an account, opening one is easy and free.

Upon request, check the “Add Profile for New Domain,” and type in “Facebook.com” at the domain URL section. Once you have set up your new website profile, Google will provide you with a tracking code, usually two letters followed by eight digits. Google will also ask you to activate the new website, but you do not need to do this step.

2. Generate FBGAT IMG Code

Since you cannot use JavaScript on Facebook, you must add a new IMG code that Google Analytics can follow. This is easily produced by the free open source tool provided by the Web Development Company in London.

Then click “Generate Code” and you will have a line of html that you can copy. Remember, you’ll need to generate a separate line of code for each Facebook page you want to follow.

3. Add FBGAT Code to Facebook

Facebook does allow you to customize your fan page with additional html code, but you must install the Static FBML app to your Facebook page. You can find it on the Static FBML Facebook page.

Simply click “Add to my Page.” This will add a box to your fan page where you can paste your newly created IMG code. It is suggested to add the code at the top or the bottom of existing code so you do not disturb the functionality.

Once you have pasted and saved the code, Google Analytics will automatically begin tracking your Facebook page. The html you pasted contained the tracking code that Google will follow, and you can begin reading your stats within the next 24 hours

This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 5:18 pm and is filed under Social Media.
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